Forbidden Fruit
by LilleSkutt
Summary: Gabriella is a second-semester junior at college, Troy is her young and very interesting new math teacher. She knows he is forbidden fruit, but she can't help but fall for him. TROYELLA.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, here's my new story Forbidden Fruit. It's about Gabriella as a junior in college who falls for her young and very good-looking new teacher Troy. They both know that they are forbidden fruit for each other but they might not be able to stay away. They both have somewhat of a baggage to begin with as well, Gabriella just broke up with her boyfriend of a year and a half... **

**Please review and tell me if you like it or not! **

**Here's chapter 1...**

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I looked at the empty bed table in front of me, where a picture of me and Marcus had been standing just a few weeks ago. My eyes travelled to the trashcan standing under the old, wooden desk next to the bed and I tried to swallow the huge bump that was starting to build up in my throat. I noticed how someone had emptied the trashcan, and I realized that the picture was probably gone forever.

I was back to reality, where I actually had to get out of bed more than to eat, use the bathroom or take a shower occasionally. I was back at Cal State Long Beach, where I had found my boyfriend of a year and a half in bed with some other girl right before Christmas break. My family's annual trip over Christmas to my grandparent's house in Alaska hadn't been more perfect. I had been able to escape for three weeks, without talking to anyone of my friends. As soon as we got there, I turned off my cell phone and went straight to bed. I don't remember that I had been crying much, I had just been laying there in my bed, sleeping for several hours straight every day. It was a relief to have been able to run away from everything, but the huge hole in my heart, tearing at my insides every time I tried to breathe, refused to heal. I could still feel it. When I walked, talked, ate or slept; it was always there, reminding me of the pain Marcus caused me.

I looked at Taylor's side of the dorm room, she was already unpacked. Her bed was made, all her school stuff was neatly organized on her desk and I could also catch a glimpse of her color coordinated closet. I wish I could have that same motivation to unpack my two gigantic suitcases, covering whatever empty space we had in our tiny dorm room. I guess I could use the fact that I had spent two extra days up in Alaska when our semester had actually started as an excuse, but I knew Taylor wouldn't buy it.

I grabbed a pair of jeans shorts and a clean t-shirt from one of my suitcases and got changed out of my sweats and my hoodie. I had already missed my first morning class, and if I didn't get ready soon, I knew I would be late for my next class as well. I looked at the big, black hoodie decorating my unmade bed, and felt the tears burning against my eyelids. It was Marcus's hoodie. I had stolen it from him last year and I had practically lived in it ever since. I had loved it more than any other piece of clothing I owned, but now that I looked at it I felt disgusted. I grabbed it and showed it down in the trashcan under my desk, the same trashcan that had been the victim of having every single picture of me and him thrown at it a few weeks ago.

The exact same second a single tear rolled down one of my cheeks, the door to our dorm got flung open and Taylor stormed in. "Gabriella Montez! Where the _hell _have you been!"

I turned my back to her quickly and tried to dry my eyes without her noticing anything.

I cleared my throat. "Alaska, I told you that" I mumbled under my breath, and started to unpack my clothes as a distraction.

"For three weeks! I thought you were going to come back early for New Years! You couldn't have picked up the phone once to call me? I'm your best friend!" I could tell that she was mad, but I also knew that she was going to get over it as soon as she understood why I had left the way I had.

"There's never reception up there, you know that" I said quietly and swallowed.

I felt her hand on my shoulder, and I spun around quickly. "Gabi, what happened!" She demanded and looked me straight in the eyes.

I couldn't hold it in anymore. Tears started streaming down my face, and her expression went from shock to complete terror as she pulled me in to a hug.

"Gabriella, you need to talk to me!" She insisted and held me close.

I tried to calm myself down, but still held my head close to her shoulder as I started explaining myself. "He cheated on me. Marcus cheated on me. The day before Christmas break. I found him in bed with some random girl. I couldn't take it. I had to leave" I stuttered out. I couldn't talk in anything other than half-complete sentences, but I knew it would be enough for Taylor to understand completely.

"Oh my God… Honey, I'm so sorry!" Taylor whispered and rubbed my back gently. I could feel her stroke the back of my head with her other hand, and I wished I could stay in that moment forever. Just me and my best friend.

But reality sucked. Reality meant classes, and classes meant future.

"I'm going to be late for my Advanced Calculus class, Taylor. We'll talk later, okay?" I murmured and pulled away from her motherly grip.

She softly wiped my cheeks with her thumbs and smiled carefully. "You know what? I'll walk you to your class, how about that?"

I nodded slowly and tried to give her a smile back, but I bet it only looked like a weird grimace.

We walked arm in arm through campus towards the math building where I was headed. "I just thought that you had packed all your stuff and left early for Alaska so that you could come home earlier, I had no idea you just threw everything away and left. I wish you would have talked to me or something. And just name it and I'll beat him up for you, it would make me feel a lot better" Taylor said as we made a short-cut over a lawn to get to the building faster. It was a little too cold to wear shorts and a t-shirt, but I was used to the unbearably cold winter in Alaska by now so I couldn't care less.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't handle anything. I couldn't even think about it. I guess I felt like I had to run away" I explained and spotted the all too familiar entrance to my math building where I felt like most of my classes were held. "And I'll keep the beat up in mind, just in case" I added and smiled.

"Well I'm sorry, I had no idea. But I mean, it's not like I hang out with Marcus on my spare time anyways..." She said and shrugged her shoulders.

I opened the double doors and we both stepped inside. "And you know what makes this whole situation even more perfect? I have this next class with Marcus" I told her and sighed. I had tried to avoid thinking about it. I knew it would be impossible to ignore him, but I would at least try my very best.

Taylor gave me a sympathetic look and hugged me. "The fact that you're ten minutes late might make it more perfect" She said which made me groan loudly.

"Alright, I'll see you later Taylor!" I said and ran towards my classroom.

I jerked the door opened and stepped inside. Almost fifty curious faces were turned to me, and I was able to spot Marcus face in just a matter of a few minutes. It did however take me a bit longer to realize that there was a new teacher sitting in Mr. Lyons desk, and I looked at him strangely.

"Who are you?" I asked without thinking. I could hear the rudeness just a few milliseconds after the words left my lips and I regretted it right away.

He tilted his head and smirked at me. This guy couldn't be more than thirty years old, and he was very handsome. Very, _very _handsome. "Funny, I could ask you the same thing" Was all he said.

The classroom was dead silent, and everyone was shifting their eyes between me and this new teacher.

It took me a couple of seconds to react. "Oh! I'm Gabriella Montez, I'm in this class. I was in Alaska over Christmas break, that's why I was a few days late this semester" I explained, and realized that I might have shared a little too much information than needed.

Somehow, this guy made me a little nervous, and I was never nervous. It might be the way his blue eyes were watching me, observing my every move.

"And is that why you were late today as well, Miss Montez?" He asked, crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.

I swallowed and tried to think before I spoke this time, but I had no idea what to say. "No… I was… I'm sorry" I felt like I was back at High School in Albuquerque again, waiting to get a tardy from my horrible English teacher.

"Well have a seat Miss Montez, and one of your class mates might explain to you that I am your new Calc teacher since your old one, Mr. Lyons, passed away over Christmas break due to extensive damage to his liver caused by his excessive consumption of alcohol" The new teacher explained very descriptive and got up from his seat and walked over to the board.

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Mr. Lyons was _dead?_ It felt so unreal.

"We were talking about Law of Sine's and Law of Cosines, but you should all recognize this from High school, right?" The teacher said as I got a seat, on the opposite side of the room from Marcus, ignoring his stares and careful waves.

I was still in a little bit of a state of shock, but I tried not to show it since no one else in the classroom seemed to care that our teacher was dead.

"Oh and Miss Montez!" I dropped my book when the teacher turned around and spoke directly to me. "I'm Mr. Bolton. Troy Bolton" He smirked at me, and I felt my heart skip a beat.

Correction; he wasn't handsome, he was _gorgeous_.

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**Please review and tell me what you think! Should I keep writing it?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! I'm glad so many people liked this story, thanks for the reviews ! **

**I hope you'll like this new chapter !**

**xoxo**

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"No Taylor, absolutely not!"

I looked at my friend from across the table with my most determined look. I refused to budge. She could give me all the crap in the entire world, but I would never agree to do what she wanted me to do.

She looked at me with pleading eyes. "Come on Gabi, it'll be good for you!" She tried.

I laughed at her, for real. It wasn't one of those sarcastic fake laughs that I had planned on giving her; this one was legit, because what she was saying was completely hilarious.

"It will be good for me? Are you saying this in all honesty or are you just messing with me?" I asked her and moved the tray in front of me to be able to lean my arms on the table. It was Friday, and we were eating dinner in the school cafeteria.

She started picking with her nails and bit her bottom lip. "You can't be sure that it will be all too bad…" She mumbled, which made me laugh even louder.

"I can't be sure it will be bad? Oh honey, I_ know_ that it will be bad. And how do I know this, you may ask? Well think about it for a second; you are asking me to go to a party at this fraternity house where the one person in this whole world I can't stand is the president. Trust me, it will be bad!" I explained thoroughly for her and sighed.

She looked at me with a desperate face. "I know that it will be asking a lot from you, but can you please go? For me? If he as much as tries to talk to you, I promise that we will leave right away. Sharpay asked me to go, and I kind of agreed and I don't want to leave you all alone on your first Friday night back here. I love you too much to do that"

I wanted to tell her that if she loved me at all, she would just leave me alone and let me drown myself in self-pity, but I knew it wouldn't work. Taylor may not always know what's right, but she did have the best intentions at heart.

Right when I was about to explain to her for the last time that it was fine, that I wanted to be alone, someone interrupted me with a loud shriek.

"Hi girls!" Sharpay's voice exploded in my ear. "Who is excited for tonight!" She added, but it sounded more as a statement rather than a question.

"Hey Sharpay" Taylor said when our friend sat down by our small table.

I greeted her with a smile. I had known Sharpay since beginning of sophomore year, she used to be friends with Marcus and he was the one who introduced us to each other. By now, a year and a half later, I loved the girl to death and she had immediately chosen my side after the break-up. I think she actually hated Marcus more than I did.

"How was your date last night?" Taylor asked and took a bite from her mac and cheese. Sharpay and Taylor became friends short after I had met her for the first time, and ever since then the three of us had been practically inseparable, with Sharpay living right across the hall from us our junior year.

Sharpay sighed and buried her face in her hands. "Ugh! It was horrible! I am destined to be alone! I will seriously never find the right one for me!"

"Amen, sister" I mumbled in agreement. "The two of us can grow up old and alone together. We can be the crazy cat-ladies" I added, which made both of them laugh. I didn't fit it quite as funny as they did.

"No but really, will I ever find love? I have not in my entire life met a guy without an annoying tic or weird habit!" She yelled frustrated.

It was hard for me to feel bad for her, so I reached for my tray and started eating from my bowl of melted ice cream. I needed a distraction.

"What was wrong with this guy?" Taylor asked and gave her a sincere smile. I couldn't understand how she could be so tolerant all the time. Maybe it was because she already found her love. She had started dating Chad in freshman year when he was a senior and they had been the perfect couple ever since then, they barely ever fought. It wasn't fair.

Sharpay took a deep breath and started spelling out all the faults with this new guy. "First of all, he chewed with his mouth open! Who does that! When they're twenty two! And secondly, he ordered garlic bread! Who orders garlic bread on a first date! Hellluu, stink breath much? Third, he wore his hair in a back slick and that just creeped me out. Fourth, he told me that he hated musicals and that was the last straw for me. I just got up and left!" She explained very dramatically. If everyone in the cafeteria wasn't listening to us before, they sure were by now considering she had been yelling and screaming like a crazy person.

"You got up and left? Just like that?" Taylor asked hesitantly.

Sharpay sighed at her and rolled her eyes. "No silly! I told him I had to use the restroom, but when I was out of sight I ran away"

I burst out in laughter as Taylor's jaw dropped. "I think it's genius!" I exclaimed with my mouth full of bad-tasting ice cream.

"Thank you Gabriella" Sharpay giggled when Taylor shook her head at both of us. "But this is why I need both of you by my side tonight, we're going man hunting!" She added excitingly, and my heart sank a bit.

Taylor shrugged her shoulders and turned to Sharpay. "Gabriella is saying that she's not going though"

"Excuse me!" Sharpay looked at me shocked.

I swallowed and attempted to explain myself. "Yeah I'm not really feeling like…" I began to say.

"You're going" Sharpay interrupted.

It was a clear instruction, and I usually didn't feel disappointing her but I just couldn't go to this particular party. "Sharpay…" I tried, but it didn't work.

"You're going" She repeated more strong-minded than last time.

I gave up, because what Sharpay said, is what most of the time happened.

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I knew this would happen. I would agree to come to the party, and I would probably have fun for the first five minutes, long enough to make both Taylor and Sharpay believe that I was fine, and then I would eventually be left alone in a corner somewhere to watch drunken guys suck at playing beer pong.

I sighed to myself and looked down at my bright red cup, filled to the top with some repulsive beverage the frat brothers called 'Love Potion'. Ever since I had witnessed a guy throwing his guts up in a bathroom but with the door wide open not a single drop of alcohol seemed tempting enough to drink.

I sighed when I saw Marcus approach me a few feet away and I attempted to turn around and walk the opposite direction to avoid him, but he was quick to run up to me and block my way.

"Marcus, go away!" I hissed but avoided eye-contact with him. I couldn't stand to look him in the face.

He didn't go away. Instead, he stepped closer and touched my arm with his cold fingers.

I was quick to shrug his hand off my body. "Don't you dare touch me, Marcus!" I threatened, still keeping my head as far away from his face I possibly could.

"Gabriella, come on! Talk to me, babe!" His dark voice made my head pound. I needed to get away from him.

I turned my face and stared at him, even though I had promised myself to never look at him again. I stared at his blonde hair falling in his green eyes. Those beautiful green eyes that once looked so honest when he told me he loved me. "Marcus, I have nothing to say to you" I whispered. I was careful to not let my voice crack. I didn't want to give him the pleasure to see how much he'd hurt me.

"Gabriella, I love you! The girl before Christmas break was just a big mistake!" He stepped even closer and I could smell the alcohol on his breath.

I tried to walk past him, but he grabbed my arm again and spun me around. "No! I won't let you go, I love you damn it!" He said with a loud voice. People around us were staring, and I could feel the tears burning against my eyelids. My chest was pounding harder and harder.

"Marcus, let me go and don't you ever touch me again!" I hissed at him, feeling the blood rushing up my head. His hand felt like fire against my bare skin and everything inside me were pounding.

Marcus's fingers slowly let go of my arm. "Gabriella…Please…I love you" He mumbled as his arm fell flat against his body.

Before I turned around and looked at him for the second time a lonely tear searched its way down my cheek. "Marcus, you broke my heart" I told him in a whisper and watched how the words pained him. I could feel more tears rolling down my face and a few strands of hair sticking to my neck as I turned around and stormed out the door.

I didn't even think about telling Taylor or Sharpay that I was leaving, all I could think about was getting away. I needed to be alone so that I could let out all my feelings. I wanted to scream. I wanted to kick, hit or break something. Or someone. It didn't really matter. All that mattered was that I couldn't stand feeling the way I did much longer; broken. It was like I had this big hole inside of that refused to heal.

My consolation ended up being the beach. I loved everything about the beach. The sound of the waves washing up on shore, the smell of the saltwater and sand mixed together, and how the sky seemed so much clearer next to a big ocean. I took of my sandals, sat down, dug my bare feet deep down in the sand and just let everything go. Tears were streaming down my face, and all I could think about was that one night when I opened Marcus room to find him sleeping with another girl.

I sat there for a long time, watching the late night surfers struggle with the waves. It surprised me how they could still surf in January, when it was so cold out. Even though it was an unusually warm winter, the water must still be freezing.

I was still crying when the first surfer gave up and made his way up to shore. He smiled at me carefully when he walked past, and it wasn't until he pulled his wet hair out of his face that I recognized him.

"Mr. Bolton?" I said, before I could stop and think about it. Did I even want to talk to my teacher, at night, with my face red and swollen after all my crying?

Mr. Bolton stopped and turned around to look at me. He didn't say anything; he just stared at me with furrowed eyebrows.

He didn't know what to do. Why did I have to be so embarrassing all the time? Of course he wouldn't recognize me, he probably taught thousands of students throughout the weeks. "I'm in your Advanced Calc-"

"It's Gabriella, right?" He interrupted me before I even had time to finish my sentence. He _did_ recognize me?

We just stared at each other, and all that was surrounding us was an awkward silence, until he cleared his throat. "Well, I should get going now" He said uneasily.

I don't know why, but my eyes started to tear up again when he said it and I nodded slowly. Why wouldn't he leave? Everyone left me…

I turned my head to not let him see I was crying, and when I heard footsteps I realized that he'd left.

"Are you okay?" I jerked my head to find that he, instead of walking away, had walked closer to me, and that he now was looking at me with worried eyes.

I felt so stupid. "Uhm yes. I'm fine" I mumbled and wiped my cheeks.

He was my freaking math teacher! _Why_ did I have to cry in front of my math teacher?

"Do you want to talk about it?" He insisted and tilted his head to observe me.

I shook my head firmly. "Not really"

He seemed very uncomfortable, but he didn't leave and I couldn't figure out why. "You can't sit here alone in the middle of the night, it's not safe" He said very matter-of-factly and scratched the back of his head. He was still in his wetsuit and he seemed really cold.

I didn't know what to say so I just shrugged my shoulders instead.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" He asked out of the blue, and I looked at him hesitantly. Was it even legal for students and teachers to hang out during after-school hours? And even if it was legal, was it such a good idea to let him walk me home? I mean, I didn't even know the guy.

I looked in to his amazing blue eyes that were almost sparkling from the light of the full moon. I breathed heavily.

"Sure" I suddenly heard myself say, and he extended one of his arms to help me get up. I brushed off the sand from my jeans and we started walking side by side on the beach in silence.

"This is kind of awkward" He said after a long time, and looked at me with a smile.

I laughed at him and nodded my head. "Yeah it is" I mumbled and looked at my feet. I loved walking in the sand barefoot, it was so soothing.

I felt Troy staring at me, and I turned my head to look him in the eyes. "So… How long have you been a teacher?" I said to break the discomfort. He seemed relieved and started counting in his head.

"Six years. I started off at different community colleges in LA until I got this job offer a few weeks ago" He told me gladly.

I looked at him and tried to figure him out, but he was like a closed book. "How old are you?"

He laughed at me. "Straight forward, I like that" He said. "I'm turning thirty on February 18th"

I smiled at him. "I'll have to remember that" I joked.

"And how about you, how old are you?" He asked me and shifted carrying his huge surfing board with his other arm.

"I'm twenty one; I turn twenty two on September 28th" I told him and grinned.

"I'll have to try to remember that" He said with a smile.

I tried to figure out something else to say as we were walking there next to each other under the starlit sky. "And did you ever know that you wanted to become a teacher?"

He looked at me and nodded his head. "Yeah, ever since I started helping my baby sister with her homework and stuff. But I never wanted to become a high school teacher or anything like that, because I mean, I've been a kid in high school once and I'd never have patience enough to deal with anyone like myself" He explained all while I was listening closely.

A strong wind started blowing and I shivered a little. I crossed my arms over my cardigan and hugged my body.

"Are you cold?" He asked me considerately, and opened his bag he had hanging over one shoulder. "I might have a hoodie or something in here…"

I laughed. "I'm fine, thank you. But I'm surprised that you're not cold though"

He smirked at me and closed his bag again. "You know, my family originates from Sweden so technically I'm a Viking!"

I laughed at him. It was an authentic and happy laugh, and it felt good. He made me forget about Marcus, and I liked it.

We kept walking for another ten minutes, just talking about everything. I told him parts of the Marcus-story, and he assured me that guys in college were idiots. He told me about his dad's obsession for dogs, and I laughed when he recounted how his dad had stuffed their first dog and still kept it in his den.

When we reached my dorm, we stopped and gazed at each other.

"Thanks for walking me home" I said and looked him deep in the eyes.

"No problem, it was my pleasure" He replied with a smirk.

I giggled and pulled my cardigan close as I started backing up to the doors, still looking at him. "Well, good night, Mr. Bolton" I said, still thinking about how it felt so right talking to him the whole night. I knew that it was wrong in many ways, but I couldn't help but like it.

"Good night, Gabriella" He said and waved watchfully.

I gave him a quick smile before I turned around and started walking away.

"Hey!" He shouted after me, and I turned back to look at him.

"What?" I shouted back.

He was smiling. "If you ever need someone to kick this Marcus kid's ass, just let me know. I mean, I wouldn't do it personally, but I'm sure I could find someone else to do it!"  
I laughed at him. "Thanks, that's real considerate! I'll keep it in mind"

And with that, I spun around and opened the door to run back to my room.  
It had been a crazy night, and I tried to understand what had really happened, but it was all too weird.

I never knew teachers could be real people. Pleasant people.

I liked it.

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**Remember to review ! Tell me if you think it's good or bad :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Helllluuu ! Sorry for the long wait , but I went on vacation with my friend and I thought I would have internet connection where we were so that I could update but I was wrooong. I did write a lot though , so you wont have to wait long for the chapters now that I'm back.**

**Thanks for all the reviews ! Love you !**

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The next morning, I awoke early as the result of Taylor and Sharpay having a loud conversation what felt like right next to my ear. They were sitting on the floor, wrapped in a blanket each, eating chips and salsa. Both of them had been asleep, curled up together in Taylor's bed, when I came home late last night.

"Oh look who decided to _finally _honor us with her presence!" Sharpay called out joyfully when I gathered power to sit up in my bed.

"Come down here and join us" Taylor said and stuffed her mouth full of chips. "Sharpay is telling me about this awesome guy she met last night, it's very interesting, because guess what? He's apparently _perfect_!"

I groaned slightly, but slowly made my way out of my duvet and down to the floor. All I wanted to do was sleep, but that was impossible with the two loud mouthed people I called my friends. "What time is it?" I mumbled, and lay down with my head resting on Sharpay's lap. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on something else rather than the reeking smell of the salsa, sitting dangerously close to my face.

"Seven!" Sharpay giggled and reached for some chips, merely crushing my head between her legs and her boobs.

I started to count the hours of sleep in my head and grunted some more. "I've slept for three hours…" I whined and tried to re-arrange myself on the floor to a more comfortable position.

Sharpay ignored my complaints and instead nudged my shoulder. "Gabriella, I've found the one!" She kept yelling excitingly.

"Yippee… Does he have a friend?" I mumbled in return, and tried to get her to sit still so that I could continue to use her legs as my pillow.

"Gabriella, he's perfect! There is nothing wrong with him! He is a God!" She squealed and clapped her hands right above my ear. _That_ certainly woke me up.

I sat up straight and yawned loudly. "I guess this means I'll be the crazy cat lady by myself" I said and looked at her.

"Honey… You will find love again!" Taylor comforted me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

I smiled at her weakly but turned back to look at Sharpay. "I'm happy for you, I really am, it's just that I met Marcus yesterday and that ripped everything back to small pieces"

"Oh my God, I specifically forbid him to talk to you. I can't believe what a big idiot he is" Sharpay mumbled and shook her head slowly.

"Oh can't you? Cause I certainly can" I smirked at her and looked at the salsa Taylor was going crazy at. She was really digging in to it, scraping one of the sides of the jar clean with chips. "Chips and salsa for breakfast, that's disgusting" I said to her, but she just shrugged her shoulders and kept eating it.

I felt my stomach moving, and I tilted my head and looked at the bright red salsa jar. I was hungry and a tiny bit hung-over. "Are you gonna give me some of that or what?" I was slightly offended that she hadn't offered me some of it, even though I hadn't showed any emotions of wanting it. As my best friend, she should know that I would eat anything at anytime.

"So tell me more about your guy" I was finally ready to hear about Sharpay's adventures after Taylor passed me the salsa and I had gotten some food in my stomach.

Sharpay gladly started sharing everything she knew about this mystery guy. The only minus about him was that he was a brother at the frat house, which directly made him one of Marcus's friends. His name was Zeke Bailor and he was apparently tall, dark and extremely handsome. His biggest passion's was cooking and baseball – the only sport Sharpay liked.

"Yeah, it's written in the stars. We're a match made from heaven" She beamed after she was done telling us about his grandparents from Florida. The girl had found out more about this guy in one night that I had ever known about Marcus, and we had dated for one and a half years.

Taylor fished up the last drips of salsa, licking the jar clean with one of her fingers. "So Gabriella, what did you do after you stormed out of the party yesterday? I mean, you must have done something because you weren't home when we came here" She looked at me with sharp eyes, as if she knew exactly what I had done last night. But who was I to kid, Mama Taylor always knew everything.

"I went to the beach" I told her in all honesty, and started biting my nails.

Sharpay grinned and waited for me to tell them something more. "Uh-huh, the beach… And then what?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know. My calc professor was there. And he walked me home. It was kind of weird actually, but at the same time really cool" I told them, because why wouldn't I? They were my best friends, and there wasn't anything to hide anyways. He had walked me home to keep me safe, nothing more than that.

"Your professor! And you did _what_!" Sharpay screeched and both of them looked at me with their eyes wide open.

Why did I feel like I had done something wrong? "Uhm…" Was all I could say.

"You didn't _do_ anything, did you?" Taylor asked warily and observed me carefully.

"What? No!" I was slightly taken aback, but still I knew that I would have thought the same thing if places were switched and one of them had spent their night with their professor.

"Good, keep it that way" Taylor mumbled.

I sighed and thought of the days last semester, when everything had been so easy all the time. I was madly in love and everything around me always felt perfect.

"How old is this professor anyways? I mean he must be ancient and why would you ever step anywhere close to that if you didn't have to?" Sharpay was a little too ruthless sometimes. She said whatever came to mind without ever thinking, and she never felt bad about it either.

I laughed at her. "He just turned thirty, Sharpay..."

The exact same minute I noticed how Sharpay got a little more interested in having this conversation, Taylor's phone started vibrating and Chad's name was flashing on the screen.

"I got to take this, I'll be right back" Taylor said and ran out with her phone still buzzing in her hand.

"Alright now that Mama's gone, spill the beans! How come you didn't mention that he was thirty? Is he hot?" Sharpay attacked me with questions and I felt slightly dizzy. I needed to sleep, but I knew that wasn't a possibility.

I tried to answer everything she wanted to know about him, but I honestly didn't know very much. The more she asked though, the more I felt allured to find out more about him.

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The weekend went by quite quickly. It was one of those slow ones, where most time was spent in the dorm room, eating cold pizza ordered from the local pizzeria right by the campus. Both Taylor and Sharpay had been perfectly fine with having movie nights both Saturday and Sunday night, and as usual, Sharpay slept in our dorm room the entire weekend. She didn't like her roommate very much, but I couldn't blame her for it really. Dora was a really interesting character who loved voodoo and magic. She was Sharpay's opposite, and the two of them pretty much hated each other, but they were both too lazy to go and try to get it fixed with new roommates. That's why Sharpay was always around. She slept the entire weekend in my bed, hugging me closely whenever I felt lonely and sad, and I loved her for it.

Monday morning creeped up on us faster than we expected, and we had to drag ourselves up for our early morning classes. I couldn't keep my eyes open for my first class, International Business, so I decided to sleep through it. The teacher wouldn't notice anyways, we were far over a hundred students in that class. All I wanted was for the clock to turn to ten, and for my second class to begin. I couldn't understand why I wanted to get to my Calc class so badly. I knew everything about my teacher was forbidden, and I also knew that even if I had any chance of something happening, I wouldn't take it. I was still hung up on Marcus, that's just the way everything worked. It was impossible to find love this soon after heartbreak.

I slowly approached him, thinking in my head of what to say. Should I just start with a 'hi' or just dig in to a deep conversation right away? I mean we had time; class didn't start for another ten minutes.

Before I could say anything, he turned around and when he saw me, his face lit up in a bright smile.

I was just about to say something, when another student walked by and gave us a funny look.

Mr. Bolton cleared his throat and looked away. "Gabri-… Uhm… Miss. Montez, take a seat please, I need to prepare something for today's class"

I stood there and just stared at him for a long time, watching him do whatever it took to ignore me. I couldn't understand why. I hadn't even had time to say anything to him.

I frowned at him before I turned around and slowly dragged my feet to the seats. Before I turned around though, I catched him sending me an apologetic face.

I couldn't understand what was going on. Up until now I had thought nothing was going on, but by the way he acted, it felt like we both had done something wrong.

Everything confused me.

He confused me.

And the more confused I felt, the more enticing he was.

Everyone knew that forbidden fruit always taste the sweetest.

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**Please review :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for the reviews ! Love them ! **

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I wondered if Taylor could read minds. I had spent the last fifteen minutes trying to send her a telepathic message, saying how much I hated her. She was sitting across from me, cuddling with Chad and not showing any kind of response to my psychic significance. I looked at Chad and understood that I actually wanted to kill him as well. I wanted to kill Taylor for setting me up on a blind date, forcing me to go by bringing up old stuff from our past that I, according to her, owed her for. I wanted to kill Chad for finding the world's most irritating guy possible to set me up with. Two seconds after Taylor and I walked in to the bar and had said hi to them, I realized how extremely annoying he was when he tried to make awkward jokes and only could talk about himself. He had the worst tics too, like the love of talking about himself in third person, and the fact that he stuck his tongue out every time he laughed just creeped me out. I had downed the first drink I ordered in the blink of an eye just to see if I could tolerate him more, but three drinks later he just seemed even more annoying.

"Taylor, did you say you had to use the restroom?" I interrupted Rob, my blind date, in the middle of his story about how he went to Russia once and all the girls there were all over him and turned to Taylor instead.

I very much hoped that she could read my signals and just agree and escape with me for a while. I mean, I couldn't go to the bathroom for the third time in twenty minutes, that would be a little suspicious, but Taylor had yet to go.

"Uhm, no…" She said and looked at me weirdly.

I wanted to kill her. Before I killed myself, I would definitely kill her.

I forced myself to turn back to Rob, and plaster a smile on my face, just in time as my next drink arrived. I grabbed it and gulped it down quickly. Three dry martinis and two strawberry margaritas were much more than I usually drank.

"Wow, you are really thirsty tonight, huh?" Rob said and grinned. "Hope you can save some room for dessert though" he added, and leaned back in his chair and stroke his chest gently. He started to chuckle with his tongue stuck out as always when he was laughing.

I didn't know what to say, so I just stared at him. He was disgusting, and I had to get away. I didn't care if I was rude or not, so I decided to just get up and walk away.

I forgot my purse at the table so leaving the place was out of the question. All I could do was going to the bathroom and lock myself in for a long time. I sat there in the dark, feeling nauseas and dizzy, trying to figure out a perfect escape plan. My plan existed of getting up from the dirty tile floor and walk out of the door, but that was it.

I knew I would have to get back there eventually, so I decided to leave my secret hideout place and make my way back to our table, but right when I walked out of the bathroom, I ran in to someone else and got knocked back in to the bathroom. For a second, before I stabilized myself by grabbing a hold of the sink next to me, I thought that this was God way of telling me to stay away from Rob, but when I saw who knocked me over I knew that it was far from reality.

"Oh… Gabriella!" The familiar man said and locked at me with a worried expression on his face.

I scoffed at him. "I'm surprised you even know my name, Mr. Bolton"

His blue eyes were staring at me and he looked really confused. "Why is that?"

I cleared my throat and looked nervously around me. No one was in sight; it was just him and me standing there in the doorway to the bathroom. "Well, you ignored me in class, so I just figured that you probably hit your head on your way home from walking me home that one night and that you are now struggling with amnesia" It sounded really dumb when I said it, but everything made sense in my head.

Troy smiled at me, but seemed lost at words. "No... It was… I mean… I'm sorry, okay?"

"Whatever" I mumbled, and tried to walk past him, but he grabbed my arm gently and looked me in the eyes.

"Where are you going?" He asked silently, and it felt like I was having a hot flash or something.

"I have to go back to my extremely perfect blind date and finish up this extremely perfect night" I said sarcastically and waved my hand towards the table Taylor, Chad and Rob was sitting at.

He laughed at me. "I can tell that you are having a great time"

"The best" I mumbled mockingly and smiled at him. His brown hair looked even darker in the dim bathroom light and his beautiful piercing blue eyes were watching me closely. It all felt intimidating, but still so incredibly alluring.

I don't know if it was the fact that I was so drunk, but it felt like he stepped closer and closer and that his eyes were full of desire. All I wanted to do was wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him, and I had to close my eyes hard and shake off the weird feeling before I did anything stupid, and that's when I noticed how he was standing at the exact same spot as before and all he did was smile at me.

"How are you feeling there?" He asked and grinned at me. I noticed how I was still clutching on to the sink, and I let go and tried to stand straight by myself, but I felt how I was swaying slightly.

I was really dizzy. "I'm fine" I mumbled.

"Oh Miss. Montez, do you need me to walk you home yet again?" Once again I felt my body heat up when he looked at me with those mysterious eyes.

I mumbled an incoherent answer to him while nodding fiercely, all while he was grinning at me. I told him that I needed to go get my purse, and he replied with telling me that he would wait right there where we were standing at the moment.

I quickly ran up to the table where Taylor and Chad were busy making out and Rob was checking out some girls in front of him.

I cleared my throat and grabbed my purse that was sitting next to Rob. "I'm not feeling too well but it was nice knowing you, bye!" I gave him a fake smile and checked to see if Taylor even noticed that I was back, or if she even cared that I was leaving. She was too busy, and I was too excited to care. I wanted to spend time with Troy, I don't know why, and I didn't even want it too, but my heart started rising whenever he was close.

I hurried back to Troy, and his face lit up to a huge smile as I got closer to him.

When we were walking back to the campus, we took a detour to walk along the beach and we watched the stars fade away and the sun slowly rise. It was beautiful. Troy talked a lot; he told me stories about how he adored his grandfather and how he was eighteen years old when his mom had his baby sister. They all lived in Albuquerque in New Mexico, and he seemed like he really missed them.

When we reached campus and it was time to say goodbye, he seemed like an even bigger mystery to me, but that's what I liked about him. He told me deep stuff about his life, but still not quite enough to get to know him for real. I wanted to get to know him though; I wanted to get to know him better.

"Alright, it was nice talking to you, Gabriella. And I won't ignore you in class next week either" He gazed in to my eyes the way only he could, and it made my body melt.

"Thanks" I smiled at him.

"Be safe now, okay?" He told me, and slightly stroke my one arm. He was very careful when he leaned in to give me a hug goodnight.

Without even thinking, I turned my head and gently pressed my lips against his soft mouth. His arms pulled me closer to his body, and he kissed me back tenderly. My heart was pounding and I was getting even dizzier, but I had never felt better in my entire life. I wanted to live in that moment forever. The taste of his lips, his soft hair and the wonderful scent of his cologne made my heart beat faster and faster. Everything was perfect, until he pulled away from me with a jerk.

"I can't do this! You're my student!" He whispered frantically, and looked around in panic. "Oh my God, what have I done?"

I tried to understand what was happening but it was all too confusing, especially when I was drunk.

"I'm sorry?" I mumbled, but he didn't seem to listen to me.

"Gabriella, I have to go. Please don't mention this to anyone. It will never happen again" He spoke unclearly and avoided eye contact.

He didn't even look at me once before he turned his back and walked away faster than a moth seeking a flame, but I stood there at the exact same spot for a long time.

I was hungry for more. I was hungry for the sweetest kind of fruit there is. Forbidden fruit.

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**Haha please remember to review :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Happy fourth of July ! Here's a new chapter as my gift to all my americans (a day late). **

**Hope you like it , and if you do , please remember to review !**

**Catch ya laterrrrrrr !**

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My head was pounding and my throat felt dry and sore. I was feeling kind of sick as well. I never wanted to get out of bed ever. I wanted to just lay there, drown in my nausea and sleep for the rest of my life. Everything was hurting.

I hated whoever turned on the lights in our room, and I knew it was either Taylor or Sharpay. I just didn't feel like opening my eyes just yet to see who I would have to crucify later when I had regained most of my powers.

"Wakey, wakey, sleeping beauty!" Sharpay's loud voice was piercing holes in my earlobes, and I slowly tried to cover my head with my pillow, but someone jumped up in my bed and pulled it away from me.

"Get…off!" I murmured, and rolled over on my stomach.

The person was giggling next to me and I felt my body getting elbowed multiple times. "Sharpay, I'm gonna kill you" I wheezed out with a hoarse voice.

Seriously, Taylor and I needed to invest in a new lock and soundproof doors for our room to keep this morning loving monster from ruining anymore of my precious morning sleep. Moments like these, I deeply regretted making a copy of our room key to give to her.

"You need to wake up, I'm bored! And I want to hear about yesterday! How was it? Did anything exciting happen?" As Sharpay kept bouncing on my bed and terrorized me with thousands of questions, only one thing stuck out to me of all the things she mentioned.

Did anything exciting happen?

Oh as a matter of fact _yes_, it did. I kissed my professor.

If I didn't feel bad before, I absolutely felt _horrible_ now.

I groaned and tried to hit her slightly for waking me up and making me feel this way, even though she had no idea about any of it. I was way too tired to use my arm muscles, so my hitting her resulted in me more like stroking her.

"Go torture Taylor instead" I rasped, and slowly opened my eyes. She was sitting leaned against the wall with her legs stretched out over me.

When she saw me turn to her with my eyes open her face lit up in a bright smile. "I would, but she's not here. From my guess, she slept over at Prince Chad's apartment"

I rolled around and looked at Taylor's neatly made bed, still looking exactly the same as it did when we left our room last night.

"Sharpay…" I whispered and turned back. "I think I might have done something extremely stupid"

Her smile immediately vanished and she stared at me with a worried expression on her face. "Tell me, sweetie!"

I slowly dragged myself up in to a sitting position and curled up next to my friend, with my bed covers wrapped around our small bodies. "I can't tell you. I really want to, and I will as soon as I can" I told her, and looked at her repentantly. When I gazed in to her brown eyes I knew that she understood. "But for now, can you just hug me?" I added, and Sharpay instantly wrapped both her arms around me.

Even though best friends could be extremely frustrating _sometimes_, they sure were the best things someone could have most times.

* * *

The weekend passed very abruptly, and I didn't even have time to make up a plan how to deal with Troy in my math class. I had to see him every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, and I wanted to get the awkwardness over with as soon as possible. I knew that I would have to apologize, or explain myself in some sort, but I didn't know how; and just as I was thinking of a good way to do it my thoughts were interrupted by the one person I really _didn't_ want to see at the moment.

"Baby, can I please have the honor to sit next to you during today's class?" Marcus was grinning widely in front of me, and I rolled my eyes at him annoyed. Since our last encounter had been to his misfortune, where he professed his love towards me, which made me resent him even more, he had clearly developed a new tactic to win me back. Flirting.

"Marcus for the millionth time; I am not your baby! I might have been _once_ but that is clearly over" I retorted quickly and grimaced at him.

His green eyes were sparkling at me. "Oh honey, it's only a matter of time before it happens again. It's bound to, we belong together"

I didn't like his new smug behavior at all, but I quickly realized that this is probably how he'd been acting his whole life; I'd just been too blinded by my love for him to see it.

I grunted slightly when he made his way past me and approached the chair next to me. "So, can I sit down next to you?" He asked when he was already seated.

"It's a free world, do whatever you want" I mumbled, and started looking through my math book to focus my attention on anything else rather than him.

Something I said made him laugh loudly, and I turned my head in a stiff movement to glare at him. "Trust me, if I could do whatever I wanted you and me would not be sitting here right now" He winked at me, and the sight of his moist lips pulling in to a huge grin made me nearly vomit.

"Everything about you disgusts me" I hissed at him, and for a second he looked genuinely hurt. I immediately felt bad for saying it, and I hated myself for it. I hated how he had completely broken everything inside of me and I still felt bad when I gave him one lousy insult.

It wasn't fair.

It wasn't fair that he was allowed to hurt me so much and still feel good about himself when I felt bad as soon as I said anything negative about him.

"Come on, Bella, it was just a joke!" He smirked and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, just in time as Troy walked in through the doors. I could see him glowering at me from across the room, and I couldn't really figure out if it was because of the kiss a couple of nights ago or if it was the fact that Marcus was sitting with his arm around my shoulders.

Could he still _really_ be upset because of the kiss, because to my defense it wasn't my entire fault, and I had also been quite drunk? I knew I had to apologize though, because that's the kind of person I was.

I always felt bad, and I always felt like I had to apologize to people.

It was exhausting.

I quickly shrugged Marcus's arm away from my body, but Troy had already turned his back to me and was facing the big whiteboard that was hanging on a wall in the absolute front of the room.

I secretly wished that he could see that I didn't want Marcus anywhere around me, and that he would notice my apologetic stares I shot him, but he kept ignoring me and it was truly hurtful.

"How many times have I told you not to touch me, Marcus? And don't call me Bella! I hate that nickname" I whispered to the infuriating blonde boy sitting next to me and I sighed loudly.

It wasn't completely true. I had liked his nickname for me, when we were together I used to love whenever he called me Bella, but now that everything were over it just sounded wrong hearing him say it.

Now I _despised _him saying it, actually.

I felt Marcus's gaze, and I turned my head to look at him. "Chill Gabriella, all I want is for us to be friends" When he said it, it felt honest and authentic, but I had a hard time trusting him anyways. I did wish that we could be friends again, because he had been my absolute best friend, and I had shared some of my best moments in life with him, but nothing would ever be the same again between us.

"Mhm, sure you do" I replied sarcastically, and went back to listen to Troy teaching about integrals and whatever else he was talking about.

When I looked at him, that brown haired man a bit away from me, my heart jumped in that weird way only _he_ could make it do. It felt weird, but it made me smile. Everything felt so incredibly forbidden, but I knew what was starting to happen. I was ready to fall for my college professor. Hard.

* * *

Monday went by quickly, and so did Tuesday. Wednesday's afternoon math class came sooner than I had expected, and I went there with my mind set on apologizing to Troy once and for all. Since he had disappeared from Monday's class before I could talk to him, there was nothing I could do but wait until our next acquaintance, which was the Wednesday afternoon class.

When I stepped in to the ginormous classroom, as usual much too early than I needed to be, there were just a few people sitting scattered around the room. The professor from the previous class was still there as well, talking to a couple of students. I took a seat in the front of the room, and started unpacking my bag slightly. I neatly placed the books and a few pens in front of me before I leaned back in my seat and relaxed. I had another fifteen minutes or so before class started, and I could just as well enjoy those fifteen minutes in peace and quiet.

Or so I thought.

"Hello my darling!" A cheerful voice said next to me, and I turned around to see Marcus quickly approach me. I sighed to myself and cleared my stuff from the seat next to me, because if I knew him right, he would probably just sit down on top of everything if I didn't clear the seat.

"Hello Marcus" I answered rudely, and noticed how he got a new haircut. I had to admit to myself that he looked better than before; his hair had grown real long and bushy.

He smiled and sat down. "So you're not gonna say anything?"

I shrugged my shoulders and turned my head away from him, and started looking straight ahead, gazing out over the classroom. "Nope"

I felt him stare at me, and I knew that if I turned to him I would see him grinning at me. "Aw but Gabriella, I thought we were gonna try to be friends?"

I couldn't stand it any longer so I turned my head and glared at him. "No, you said that you _wanted_ us to be friends, but I certainly _don't _want to be friends with you" I scowled at him.

He looked vaguely taken aback which made me, _as usual_, feel bad for him. "I'm sorry, you know what I meant" I mumbled and avoided eye-contact.

"I know, and I'm sorry too" I said quietly, without any witty sarcasm on his voice or an arrogant attitude.

I smiled carefully at him as a response.

"Hey, could I maybe take you out some night so that we could talk things over because I don't like how things ended between us? Just as friends. Or not even as friends if that's what you want" He asked cautiously and observed me closely.

I didn't want to say no, because that would make him feel bad, but I didn't want to say yes either. A dinner with Marcus all alone was not one of my priorities in life.

"Maybe" I replied, just in time for Troy to walk in and start lecturing about something extremely boring, but extremely important, to save me from a further conversation with Marcus.

When class ended, I hastily murmured something to Marcus about how I had to ask the teacher to explain something real quick about today's class and I hurried down to talk to Troy.

I was just about to call his name quietly when he turned around and looked at me. He smiled hazily and scratched the back of his head. As usual, my heart started to beat faster and faster, and I suddenly had no idea what I should say to him.

"Ehm… about last week" I blurted out, and he turned his head to look around nervously.

"Don't even worry about it, okay? I really have to go. I have… Ehm… Important stuff to do" He exclaimed very formally and gathered his stuff as if standing there talking to me was the worst thing in the world for him.

"Of course…" I mumbled when he walked past me, with a sudden glance.

Try number two felt like a bigger fail than my first one, if just looking at him Monday could count as a try to apologize.

I had tried, and he had rejected me right away.

I was over it by now, and I stomped out of the classroom more angry than hurt.

* * *

By math class Friday afternoon, my last class for the day, I just assumed that Marcus would sit down next to me, so I didn't even bother trying to get him not to. When he walked in to the classroom, one of the first kids just like me, I smiled at him properly, and tried to forget how angry I was at him deep inside and just have a normal conversation with him.

"Hi Gabs" He said as he sat down, and beamed at me.

"Hey Marcus, how are you?" I mumbled and started taking out my books and placing them in front of me.

He seemed surprised at how more fond of talking I was today compared to our previous encounters. "I'm good, how are you?" He answered, but that's where my chipperness ended. I saw Troy walk in, earlier than he usually came to class, and something suddenly felt heavier inside of me. I couldn't understand his mood swings. I couldn't understand how he could go from being so friendly and open to resenting me so much.

I heard Marcus talking to me somewhere in a distant, but I couldn't really hear him.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I asked him, when I felt him staring at me questioningly for a short period of time.

"I asked if you had given my proposal about you and me having dinner some night any more thought?" He repeated and looked at me skeptically.

I wondered if he had seen me stare off at Troy.

"Uhm… I don't know Marcus" I droned and looked down at my hands. I was clenching them hard together.

"Come on, Gabriella?" He begged me, and I looked up at him again. He looked so painfully bothered.

I sighed to myself and closed my eyes hard. I knew I would regret it, but I didn't have anything else to do. "Alright, but just as friends" I agreed, and watch him lit up.

"Perfect! How about tonight? I'll come pick you up at five or something?" He suggested, but I could barely hear him. Troy had just looked up and he was staring at me. What felt heavy inside of me a few minutes ago was suddenly gone, and my heart started beating harder. We were just staring at each other, and for the rest of the class, I couldn't focus on anything other than his beautiful blue eyes.

When class was over, I saw him sitting down by the desk up front and he looked like he was reading a paper very closely.

I started walking down the steps when I heard my own name being called loudly.

"Miss Montez, would you mind staying quickly after class? There is something I wanted to discuss with you concerning the spring scholarship competition" Troy still looked like he was reading the paper when he spoke those words.

My whole body froze, and I just stared at him from across the room. Students were walking past me as if it was totally normal, but I knew the truth. I had never even heard about some spring scholarship competition, and I was pretty sure it didn't even exist.

When the entire classroom was empty except for the two of us, he finally looked up and stared at me. My heart was beating faster than it had ever done before, and when he smiled at me carefully I felt incredibly nervous. I couldn't understand what had made this one person affect me so much in such a short period of time. Everything about him was just so enormously forbidden and so enormously alluring.

We gazed at each other, both wearing vague smiles on our faces and taking heavy breaths to stay focused.

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**A little cliffhanger... You'll find out what happens very shortly , promise ;) Please review !**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys sorry for the long wait ! Stuff came up and I've been a bit busy... Hopefully I'll have time to publish another chapter before I leave for a week on Sunday (the 18th).**

**I don't really like this chapter , but I figured I had to update this story anyways.. Hope it will due.**

**Uhm okay , so here it is.**

**Don't forget to review ! And thanks for all the wonderful reviews on my last chapter ! Love them !**

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He stared at me intensely, before he slowly got up from his seat. He covered his face with one of his hands, looking like he thought very deeply. "Why are you doing this to me?"

I observed him closely. I had no frigging idea what he was talking about. Seriously, he told me to stay after class after weeks of not even acknowledging me and now he was talking what to me sounded like gibberish?

"Uhm…" Was all I could say before he interrupted me.

"I mean, what do you want from me?" He stared at me with a frustrated look on his face and I felt more baffled than ever.

I carefully peeked over my own shoulder to see if there was mysteriously all of a sudden standing someone right behind me that he could be talking to, because to me, he made absolutely no sense at all. When I noticed that the classroom was as empty as I thought it would be, I turned back and looked at Troy with wide eyes.

Did he actually want me to answer his question or was he having a mental breakdown of some sorts?

Should I be worried?

Should I call an ambulance?

"Are you…" Once again, he interrupted me before I had a chance to form a complete sentence and ask him if he was alright.

His face was pained and he looked down at his desk when he spoke to me. "Why do you make me _feel this way_?"

I didn't know what to say. Everything just went by in slow motion – how he kicked his chair back, how he turned his head to face me, how he walked across the room to stand just a few inches away from my body, and most of all how he grabbed the back of my head and pulled me close to him. He slowly bent down and pressed his soft lips against mine, and we stood there for what felt like days, taking in every part of each other possible. His tongue carefully slid in to my mouth as I hugged him closely. I wanted to live there, in that exact moment, forever. I wanted it to last forever. He made every cell of my body quiver, and my heart was racing faster than it had ever done before.

I wasn't about to fall for him. I had already fallen flat on the ground. I was mauled and knocked out. He made me feel like no one had ever made me feel.

When he pulled away and tried to apologize quietly, I couldn't help myself to just shake my head vigorously and pull him back to me. My lips against his, our heart beating at the sound of the same melody, just the way it should be.

"I'm sorry…" Troy's voice echoed in my ears as our lips parted.

I breathed heavily, gazing in to his piercing blue eyes. "Why did you do that for?" I asked confused.

Our bodies were still pressed against each other, and our faces were so close that I could almost feel his nose brush against mine. Knowing that there was a risk that someone could walk in at any moment, and catch us like this made everything more thrilling. My whole body was pounding with excitement.

"I honestly have no idea" He answered, and backed away from me carefully. He was still staring in to my eyes, and I thought that I could notice a smile spread across his face for a second.

"So what does this mean?" My head was full of questions, but I knew that I couldn't attack him with all of them at once.

He shook his head slowly. "I don't know"

He seemed to know the reason for him kissing me as little as I did, that's why I stopped asking him questions, and instead I cleared my throat and crossed my arms over my chest and switched position nervously.

"Well… Are we going to go back to normal, where you ignore me in class as you usually-"

"No"

I couldn't help but smile. I loved how he was quick to interrupt me with that determined voice of his.

"Would you want to have dinner with me? Tonight? To talk things through?" He asked me.

I kept smiling at him. "I'd love to" I replied and tried not to sound as excited as I really was.

He nodded his head slowly and grinned at me. "Joe's Crab Shack, at seven?"

"I'll see you there!" I said thrilled.

Really, this wasn't exactly something to be thrilled about, but I didn't care. I was pretty sure it might be illegal. It has to be prohibited in some sort at least, I mean, a student and a professor going out on a date couldn't be allowed.

"And hey, please don't tell anyone about this, okay? I'm pretty sure I could get fired for something like this" He said as if he could read my mind.

"Of course not" I told him in all honesty, before I walked out the door, shooting him a smile as I left.

But as I shut the door after leaving with a smile on my lips, trying to leave all the wonderful emotions I had felt just a few seconds ago behind, I remembered something that wasn't permitted to be true.

I remembered that this hadn't been my weird encounter with a guy today.

I remembered the promise to Marcus I had made just minutes before Troy kissed me and made everything inside of me completely numb.

I had _two_ dates today.

I had _two_ dinners I had to make it to in really no time at all, and I couldn't cancel on either one of them.

How the _hell _would I be able to pull that off?

And at that exact moment I cursed myself before I ran back to my dorm room to vent to my best friend about the miserable life I was living and how someone really had it out for me.

Taylor would know what to do. Taylor always knew what to do.

* * *

I wanted to scream. The one person in this world that I could rely on the most had decided to turn her back against me. She wouldn't help me _at all_.

"It's your own mess, I can't help you, I'm sorry" Was all she said when I told her about my difficulties.

I did remember that I had promised Troy not to tell a living soul about what had happened, but at the same time I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep a secret as big as that from Taylor. So it kind of slipped out. Somewhat unintentionally.

"But Taylor!" I complained and sighed.

She looked at me with raised eyebrows and with a face that told me that she could care less. "You made your bed now lay in it!"

I smirked at her. "Actually, you always make my bed…" I joked and she shook her head. She was obviously not feeling the least bit humorous I realized.

"Gabriella, I'm sorry but I can't help you with this one. When you decide to start things up with your _teacher_, then you're on your own, honey" I hated how Taylor always had to be little-miss-perfect who never did anything wrong. I had used to be that person, but now when I had taken a bite from the forbidden and realized how tiring it could be to always follow the rules, I had decided to live a little. I just wished that Taylor could start seeing things my way, because she had no idea what she was missing.

Just at that second, Sharpay walked in to our room with a perky look on her face and wearing a beautiful black dress. "Who's on their own?" She asked curiously and sat down on my bed.

Taylor looked at me sternly, but I knew that she wouldn't say anything I had told her about Troy. Even though she might not support me, she would always know how to keep a secret. Unlike me. "I have to go" She mumbled still looking at me. She shot Sharpay a faint smile before she left our room to probably go spend the night with Chad, like always.

"Uhm okay, so what's going on?" Sharpay asked me confused.

I groaned slightly and sat down next to her. "Nothing" I muttered, but I knew she wouldn't believe me.

I wanted to tell her about Troy, I really did, but I didn't want a repeat of the shunning Taylor had just given me so I decided to keep my mouth shut this time, like I should have when I had chosen to tell Taylor.

"Oh okay" She said just as confused as before, but she didn't pressure me to tell her something I obviously didn't feel like talking about.

I looked at her and noticed how dolled-up she was. Her dress wasn't just the black casual one that I had first thought she was wearing, but it was made out of silk and hugged her body perfectly. Her blonde hair was falling down in wonderful curls along her back, and she was wearing bright red lipstick.

"You look nice, what's the occasion?" I asked, and she giggled.

"I have a date tonight. With Mr. Perfect" She said cheerfully and I smiled at her.

Mr. Perfect was our new nickname for Zeke, the guy Sharpay had started to date. He was actually a potential catch; any guy Sharpay lasted longer than three dates with must be someone special.

"Well, have fun tonight. And be safe" I told her and she laughed at me.

"Yeah and whatever it is you're doing, you better play it safe as well!" She tweeted right before she slammed the door shut behind her.

I sighed loudly and lay exhaustedly down on my bed. "Oh I'll play it safe alright, but that doesn't mean that I won't get burned…" I mumbled to myself, before I let out a frustrated shriek in my sea of loneliness.

There was no one around to hear my.

There was no one around to make me feel better.

I knew that I made my problems more dramatic than they needed to be, but I just didn't care at the moment.

I had two dates in one night.

Two dates and I just couldn't bring myself to cancel one of them.

I couldn't tell one of them about the other.

I had no idea how I was supposed to pull it off, but I had to try it and I realized that wasting time in my bed wasn't exactly helping the situation.

I slowly got up with a loud growl and started preparing for the possibly worst night in my life that was about to happen.

Oh the world's _joy_ I was always suffering…

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**Ehhh ,_ please_ review , even though you might not like it (just like me). **

**Oh and if you haven't already , check out my new story The Weather Girl (if you have time) ! As always , it's about Troyella and the love and difficulties they're experiencing. Also a kind of 'forbidden love' theme as in this story.**

**Byeee**


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